ACTION PLAN FOR THE INTERNATIONAL DECADE FOR A CULTURE OF PEACE AND NON-VIOLENCE FOR THE CHILDREN OF THE WORLD (2001-2010) Part I Resolution The International NGO Conference held in Paris from 12 to 15 December 2001; Having been apprised of the conclusions of the conference on The Culture of Peace: an idea in action ; Having regard to UN Resolution A/RES/56/5 of 13 November 2001 which "reiterates that the objective of the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non- Violence for the Children of the World is to further strengthen the global movement for a culture of peace following the observance of the international year for the culture of peace in 2000", "Encourages civil society, including non-governmental organizations, to continue and strengthen its efforts in furtherance of the objectives of the Decade, inter alia, by adopting its own programme of activities to complement the initiatives of the Member States, the organizations of the United Nations system and other global and regional organizations Considering the unbearable violence directed against children in the world today, in particular: forcing children to work from the most tender age in many countries, at times starting at the age of 5; the mobilisation of children in more or less regular or mercenary armies; the fact that 80% of the victims of the millions of anti-personnel mines throughout the world are children; the current increase in prostitution, in particular of very young boys and girls, namely children; the intolerable development of the phenomenon known as street children; Launches an appeal to NGOs that have official relations with UNESCO to take into account the recommendations appended to this resolution; Adopts the following measures: NGOs that have official relations with UNESCO are encouraged to: 1. exchange information and resources between each other in the Culture of Peace eight domains of action and to update the Internet exchange market of resource (www.unesco.org/cp) by registering their initiatives in said eight domains of action;
2. encourage their national or local branches to create a common media event for children on the International Day of Peace each year on September 21 st (UN Resolution 55/282) 3. continue to reproduce and distribute in their networks the contents of the UN Manifesto 2000 so as to help popularise the culture of peace and to disseminate its educational contents; to this end, the NGOs should cooperate with the focal points of the Decade and with the UN Member States each time it proves possible; The Liaison Committee is invited to draw up a list of Monuments: Messengers of the Culture of Peace by the end of 2004, by developing the idea already given concrete from by the World Federation of UNESCO Clubs, Centres and Associations (WFUCA) in Italy, to encourage the appropriation of the notion of culture of peace by the general public, with each NGO contributing at least one monument to the list; The Liaison Committee is invited to organise a conference midway in the decade to take stock of the progress of the NGO Action Plan and to participate in the reports to be submitted to the UN Secretary-General on the progress and initial results of the Decade; International Agenda Themes for each year of the Decade (the list is non-exhaustive): 2001 United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations 2002 United Nations Year for Cultural Heritage World Summit on Sustainable Development International Year of Ecotourism 2003 World Summit on the Information Society 2004 Closing of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education International Year of the Family + 10 2005 Beijing + 10 The International NGO Conference recommends to the Liaison Committee to establish an ad hoc group that could concentrate on implementing joint proposals to continue the policy of the culture of peace during the Decade.
ACTION PLAN FOR THE INTERNATIONAL DECADE FOR A CULTURE OF PEACE AND NON-VIOLENCE FOR THE CHILDREN OF THE WORLD (2001-2010) Part II Recommendations, by domain of action, for the attention of NGOs 1. Actions to foster a culture of peace through education 2. Actions to promote sustainable economic and social development 3. Actions to promote respect for all human rights 4. Actions to ensure equality between women and men 5. Actions to foster democratic participation 6. Actions to advance understanding, tolerance and solidarity 7. Actions to support participatory communication and the free flow of information and knowledge 8. Actions to promote international peace and security
1. Actions to foster a culture of peace through education 1.1 The NGOs should give information about good practices to schools and teachers about the subjects of the project and about integrated curricula and other activities. In several countries there is some expertise about specific activities for special groups with special needs, for instance how to educate people in prison, people in conflict areas, or in minority positions. Another example is provided by the countries where activities around our subjects are organised on a national scale in special weeks in the year, so that there is also a lot of attention in the media and broad public awareness for joining the campaign. 1.2 The NGOs should promote the role of parents and especially women in the education process at home, as well in the schools. In several countries parents are members of advisory committees at the school or members of school boards. It is important to encourage parents in the family environment to transmit a sense of responsibility, values and limits. 1.3 The NGOs should promote the development of broadening the school in the local social environment by co-operation of formal and non-formal education (institutions). The NGOs should disseminate this idea of an ideal school among their members and member organisations. The NGOs in the field of formal and non-formal education are invited to stimulate their members or member organisations to co-operation in the project on the national and, if possible, on the local level. On the national level they can also use, where possible, the national Focal Points for the Decade. (A list they can find on www.unesco.org/cp.) This can be a starting point to reach in several countries national NGO-committees at the end of the decade. 1.4 It is important to accompany these efforts by an in-depth civic education campaign, the initial step by the parties concerned to acquire knowledge of their rights and to be endowed with the means to claim recognition of their dignity by others: integration in the normal curricula of all basic education or vocational training, of education in respecting others, the fight against discrimination based on sex and race, respect for human rights, non-violent settlement of conflicts, and peace. 2. Actions to promote sustainable economic and social development 2.1 Create an annual international media event for the protection of the environment on the occasion of Rio+10 which is connected to the Children s Decade by referring to an original idea that already exists and is geared to children entitled plant a tree for peace. An international media event for the protection of the environment that could be illustrated by all international environmental protection actions carried out during the International Year for the Culture of Peace; 2.2 Encourage the less destitute and even more so those better off, to develop solidarity with the poor, including through partnerships, in particular with companies seeking recognition for social utility, but also with those which have not yet understood this, for which it is high time to provide information on business ethics that can lead to awareness of, e.g. the obligation to promote fair business practices;
2.3 Fill the gap in the relation between urban and rural poverty, as a large proportion of the population is still living in the country and is engaged in the current migratory movement to cities that has to be controlled; it is absolutely vital to take account of the town / country relation if we want to eradicate poverty and secure better conditions for sustainable human development; it is moreover necessary to insist on the cultural dimension insofar as society must be considered as an economic, political, social and cultural whole; finally, education in water, the source of life and development, is inseparable from sustainable development, from the local to the international and global level, and a project could be set up with UNESCO research and actions. 2.4 Secure the perpetuation of local development projects by promoting the transfer of experiences and their reproduction by local officials, by adapting them accordingly and involving the segments of the population concerned and the civil society. This proposal which involves training and methodology must be linked with the UNESCO inter-sectorial project on this topic ( Training Community Agents for Sustainable Development ). 3 Actions to promote respect for all human rights 3.1 Ensure, where not done so by the public authorities, the schooling of children and literacy of parents, helping also with the training of teachers; accompany these efforts by an in-depth civic education campaign, the initial step by the parties concerned to acquire knowledge of their rights and to be endowed with the means to claim recognition of their dignity by others; 3.2 Provide advice and support to the most underprivileged, such communities of minorities rejected by the others as such, in their dealings with the public authorities to assert their rights, by stressing the plea for equal rights, especially economic rights; 3.3 Fight to ensure that the official recognition of the rights of the child is actually implemented and monitored accordingly by the states; 3.4 Undertake a long-term commitment alongside international organisations and those who suffer from discrimination, so that the spirit of tolerance, i.e. respect for the difference between human beings, be the prime concern of human societies and their leaders. 4 Actions to ensure equality between women and men 4.1 Encourage the development of education and training in equal measure for boys and girls, men and women, throughout life with respect for the others, the fight against sex and race discrimination, respect for human rights, the non-violent settlement of conflicts and peace; 4.2 Exchange information that would mobilise the necessary resources and political policies; 4.3 Encourage the access of more women to positions of responsibility in the media and means of communication. 4.4 Support equal and sustainable participation by women in the decision-making process at all levels for the prevention, management and settlement of conflicts and the restoration of peace after such conflicts.
5. Actions to foster democratic participation 5.1 Develop mediation, e.g. In organising debates and roundtables On the training premises In introduction in the school curriculum 5.2 Recognise the difficulty of dialogue between NGOs and analyse the reasons / causes of these difficulties to make a step forward in the dialogue; 5.3 A) Exert pressure on the government and international institutions to allow real democratic participation, real tolerance in action, and ask NGOs to reflect on the appropriate mechanisms and structures for that purpose. B) Create discussion forums to enable governments, IGOs and NGOs to develop a common approach on new areas that allow democratic participation. 6 Actions to advance understanding, tolerance and solidarity 6.1 Introduce actions that really develop the seeds of tolerance, which in turn really changes attitudes. Education at all levels (formal and non-formal) is essential to this end, in particular for children; 6.2 Encourage all the movements which, at very different levels, and often locally, want to ease tensions, erase the hatred of others due to ignorance, and promote dialogue; 6.3 Support the dissemination of the Declaration of Principles on Tolerance adopted in 1995 and apply the follow-up action plan of the International Year for Tolerance, in particular the International Day for Tolerance (November 16 th ), the regional networks for the promotion of tolerance and non-violence, initiatives like the international film festival against exclusion and for tolerance or the UNESCO Madanjeet Singh prize. 6.4 Improve mutual knowledge between UNESCO and NGOs and strive for their complementarily in the implementation of the action for tolerance (in particular with SHS/HRS) as well as inside NGOs (by way of reminder: recommendation of the conference to draw up a mailing list of participants to the conference). 6.5 Undertake a long-term commitment alongside international organisations and those who suffer from discrimination, so that the spirit of tolerance, i.e. respect for the difference between human beings, be the prime concern of human societies and their leaders. 7 Actions to support participatory communication and the free flow of information and knowledge 7.1 Make journalists aware of the Voice of Peace media, in particular in hotspots coming out of armed conflicts. Local or international NGOs could contribute extensively to this awareness raising as we were made to understand (cf. UNDA in Latin America).
7.2 Introduce legislation or, at least a system of ethical reference, allowing pluralism and freedom of expression, with respect for human dignity and privacy, a system that could be disseminated by the participatory media, as well as by official or commercial media. This would allow the circulation of horizontal information alongside vertical information; 7.3 Educate young people about the media through the school and all types of media: books, magazines, radio, videos, on-line services. There is a project at UNESCO for South-East Europe, but still at the planning stage without funding yet. There is also another project in the UNESCO clubs; 7.4 Contribute to the WFUCA project: «Read for Peace» combines reading (and therefore libraries), analysis (and therefore the individual reader), summary (showing the value for peace) and the Internet (to promote a culture of non-violence). Other NGOs could join this project; 7.5 Use in particular media that can reach the largest possible number of individuals radio, television, cinema, posters, educational programmes to disseminate messages from the UN system; 8 Actions to promote international peace and security 8.1 Develop and strengthen the coalition of NGOs that have contributed to the Ottawa agreements. UNESCO NGOs should establish a pressure group to obtain the ratification and observance of these agreement by countries that have not yet committed themselves to defending human security; 8.2 Establish a network of objective journalists, specialised in international security. This network should denounce the failure to comply with the treaties, and promote the initiatives of UNESCO NGOs for peace and human security; 8.3 Take into account the statistics broken down by sex to measure the impact of violence and armed conflicts on women; 8.4 Continue and amplify the studies initiated by UNESCO on the roles of men, masculinity and violence with a view to a culture of peace.